Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a display device that has a transparent conductive layer including a plurality of nanowires.
Discussion of the Related Art
Transparent conductive layers have been extensively used for various types of display devices such as plasma display panels (PDPs), organic light emitting devices, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), solar cells, touch devices, and the like. With the rapid growth of display and solar battery industries, demand for transparent conductive layers has been sharply increased. Indium tin oxide (ITO) has largely been used as a material for such transparent conductive layers.
ITO can be used to form a transparent conductive layer under process conditions appropriate for glass substrates. However, when ITO is formed on a plastic substrate by sputtering, the flexibility of the transparent conductive layer may not be sufficient. Thus, ITO may not be an appropriate material for such a transparent conductive layer on a flexible substrate. Also, indium included in ITO is a rare metal, which is contained by about 10 to 20 ppm when zinc (Zn) or lead (Pb) is mined. Indium reserves are believed to be about 6000 tones, which is expected to be depleted around 2018.
Recently, metal nanowires have been developed to form a transparent conductive layer as a substitute of ITO. Silver, gold, and platinum are typical metals that can be used for such metal nanowires. Among these metal nanowires, silver nanowires have become predominant due to cost issues. However, forming a transparent conductive layer using silver nanowires typically requires a patterning process using a photolithography system. Due to the characteristics of the photolithography system, when a surface of an underlying film is uneven, it may be difficult to stack the next film on top, which in turn may generate a mura and moiré and degrade the visual characteristics of the display device.